Rebirth
by Moebius141
Summary: It has been 33 years since the Drakonian conflict began and the allied forces is struggling to keep the Union's superweapon at bay . Two individuals, a pilot and a soldier faces the wrath of the enemy's superweapon while dealing with their own personal problems . Morals will be shattered, allegiance will be tested and every pilot's honor will be pushed to the limits .
1. Prologue

**A/N: Ace Combat belongs to Namco/Bandai and Project ACES.**

* * *

**_Prologue_**

**_Every decisions have it's own consequences _**_~ unknown_

* * *

**Military Maximum Security Prison (MMSP) "****_Pre Mortem_****", Central U.S.E.A**

**21/11/2064, 0956hrs (Local Time)**

MMSP, a prison known for it's top security and dangerous inmates. The baddest of the bad were locked up in this place for their entire lifetime. Getting access to this place requires overly long paper works and tight examinations, only a few people were allowed to face the inmates and today, a reporter is about to meet the most notorious inmate of them all.

Reporter and field journalist Wendy Wallbright walks along with his cameraman and two cell guards, her assignment is to interview a man known as Jonathan von Richthofen. According to some history books she read, Richthofen is a former ace of the Luftwaffe and leader of the infamous Jagdeschwader 291 or more commonly known as Adler Squadron. He was locked up after committing an act of treason against the Joint Allied Forces (JAF) and side himself with Ouroboros, the multinational terrorist organization.

The group finally arrived at the cell Richthofen was held, the guards unlock the keys that holds the metal door so the reporter can come inside the cell. Once it's open, she walked inside the cell and once she's inside the guards quickly lock the door again, an automatic tranquilizer gun beeps as it tracks any movements inside the cell.

"Remember miss Wallbright, you only have 30 minutes." The guard reminded,

Wendy rest her eyes on the inmate whose sitting on his bed, she moved closer to the man known as Richthofen. At first, he didn't notice the two's presence but Wendy gave a loud cough, finally getting his attention. Reluctantly, Wendy tries to greet the old man in front of her,

"Um..Hello, Mr. Richthofen."

Richthofen raised an eyebrow,

"I didn't expect to have any visitors today." He spoke with a thick Deutschlandean accent. "Please miss—"

"Wallbright if you please." Wendy cuts him,

"Right, Miss Wallbright." He chuckled for the unexpected rhyme he just spoke before standing up and hands a chair for his visitor. "Please, have a seat."

Wendy sat down, taking a notepad and a pen as the old man sat back to his bed. Without any further delay, Wendy took out a note containing a series of Questions for him,

"Allright Mr. Richthofen, I'm from the Daily Times and I'm here to find out your involvement on the early stages of the Drakonian war."

Hearing this Richthofen frowned, Wendy noticed this reaction and decides to go easy for the old man.

"It's okay Mr. Richthofen, if you don't want to tell it to me, it will be just fine."

"No Miss Wallbright, I actually wanted to tell somebody my version of that war."

Wendy knew she just hit a goldmine.

"Then please sir." She spoke slowly. "Tell me everything."

"Allright then. Everything you know Miss Wallbright," Wendy immediately took her pen and holds her notepad, ready to write some important points. "Everything you've read in the history books are nothing but lies."

"What do you mean by that Mr. Richthofen?" she cuts in. "Are you saying there's some kind of conspiracy going on for 33 years? Did the government lied to us after all this time?"

"In a sense, yes." Richthofen shrugged. "Do you know the old saying _History was written by the victors_?"

Wendy shook her head,

"Well let me explain it to you." He paused for a moment before continuing. "History is written by those who survived it. They bask in glory, knowing that their tale made it through the trials of time. But sometimes, they only know half the truth of the war itself, incorrect statements and false accusations were used to fill in the blanks they can't fill on their own."

Richthofen sighed as he turns to the small window near his bed, the morning sun shine through it as he continued,

( watch?v=-dIBsgy0Y6Y)

"In short, history was written by liars. Those who knew the truth were gone, eaten by time." Richthofen lowered his head as memories of battles in the past came flooding his brain. "Including myself."

Wendy stopped writing notes and glanced at the old man in front of her, she felt pity for him after hearing that last statement.

"Nobody will never hear the tales from those who lost in the war." He continued. "Their tales fell on deaf ears because the public will never listen to the losers, they always prefer the winners."

"Well I'm here to hear your tale Mr. Richthofen." Wendy smiled at the old man. "I promise that I will write every single detail you spoke."

Richthofen was silent, he stood up and gazed at his cell's small window. He saw a flock of birds flying by. He sighed, remembering his glory days as the pride of his fatherland. Richthofen loved flying more than anything else, the sky always greeted him in open arms every time he took off from the runway, but now, he's just a broken bird, locked in chains on the ground. He turned his attention back at the reporter and sat back down.

"Allright, the truth about the war was…."

Wendy began to write every single word Richthofen spoke. She realized that Richthofen's words wasn't aimed directly at her, he's keeping his memories inside those words. Wendy continued to write those words while circling some important facts about the war.

_33 Years ago the cold war draws to it's end,_

_The Union became increasingly unstable due to it's funds being used to develop nuclear weapons,_

_We all thought that the Union will slowly crumble by their own hands,_

_But we are wrong._

_Long live Ouroboros…_

* * *

**Kogti Air Force Base, Airspace K067 (Talon's Tip), Southern Drakonia**

**25/12/2064, 0340hrs (Local Time)**

Kogti Air Base, one of the few base which dedicated for protecting the holy motherland of Drakonia in the north. Since the beginning of the war Kogti have served it's purpose and dedication well to the country it was built on. Many things happened here during the 32 year span of the war and one of the most noticeable and infamous moment is happening now.

Along the dark corridors of the base, a dark and tall figure walks through the dimly lit corridor. The figure is a well-built man with dark grey hair, a shaven jaw line and some shading below his eyes. He had six red stripes, three each on either side on his neck which resembles a shark's gills. He wears a dark grey jumpsuit and the flight gear and on his right hand he's holding a small briefcase containing all his daily things and needs.

The man was unmoved, he's been planning this act ever since he realized he's no longer worthy serving the holy motherland he's born on. He walks into the end of the corridor and opens the door which leads to the hangars. The bright moonlight shines his grey hair as he walked to the farthest hangar on the base.

Once he entered the hangar, he found a mechanic working on a grey colored Sukhoi Su-35S/BM "Flanker-E" as the JAF countries would call it. The Sukhoi Su-35S/BM is another modernization of the original Su-35 and Su-35S, it's avionics have been tuned up and it's fuselage was given a smaller radar-cross section to boost up the plane's stealth. The Su-35S/BM also don several upgraded avionics from the unproduced Su-37 _'Terminator'_, Su-47/S-32 _'Berkut' _and even the PAK-FA.

The fighter's overall color is a dark gray shading with a lighter shade of gray on the bottom, the number 06 carved just below the cockpit and bottom tailfin additionally a Drakonian air force insignia on it's tail and wingtips, but the most striking and noticeable feature of the plane is a large shark mouth painted on its nose.

"Is the fighter ready?" the pilot asks the mechanic in his native language.

"Ready as it will ever be captain." The mechanic assured. "Major Maresyev has already left with the third plane, I think it's best if you leave immediately."

"Da." The pilot nodded. "I just hope he don't get shot down first."

He climbed on the fighter as the mechanic opens the hangar doors. With one last salute to the mechanic, He leads his fighter down to the runway before taking off into the night sky. The mechanic watches on from the ground as he muttered.

"Good luck."

With that both the mechanic and the pilot disappeared into the darkness of the night, never to be seen again.

* * *

**Somewhere in Ajagaran territory**

**25/12/2064, 1940hrs (Local Time)**

Night falls and the cold air breezes through a small building on a small airfield. On the airfield's apron, five F-15SE Silent Eagles parked neatly next to each other. All of them were painted blood-red with a darker shade on the wingtips and the rudder tips.

Inside the building were nine men discussing something among themselves. They're all wearing the same light grey jumpsuits with an eagle insignia on their shoulders. They continued to chat in their respective language until another man enters the room, the man is in his mid thirties, sporting a jet black hair and a shaven jaw line. He wears the same jumpsuit as the other men but his rank shows that he's a high-ranking Major.

The other men went silent immediately as the man sat down at the end of the table, his dark blue eyes scanned everybody in the room, piercing every soul who dared stared him back. After a while he began to speak.

"What's the status on them?" he said with a very thick Deutschland accent.

"Everything's going good sir." A young man replied not before saluting to his superior.

The major raised his eyebrow before speaking again,

"Explain."

"The Ajagarans have already began their move but the Animans are still neutral on the situation….. But the Judaean line is slowly stabilizing." He lowered his tone during that last part. "Should we handle them first?"

"No." the man replied sternly. "I'm sure _he_ can handle it on his own."

20 minutes passed by like the blowing wind for the major, but apparently this doesn't apply to his wingmen. Before long, a member stood up and whined.

"He's late sir! I knew we can't trust him!"

The Major just stared at him with his ice-cold gaze, this was enough to made him stop and sat back down, trembling with fear.

"Forgive me sir." He trembled in fear. "I…I…didn't mean to…"

Before the member can finish his sentence, the major shot him in the chest, killing him. All eyes fell to the fallen pilot as he sat back down, putting his custom-made Glock away.

"I won't tolerate such behavior in my squad." He remarked coldly. "Do you all understand?"

"Yes sir." The other members said in unison. Soon the roaring sound of jet engines thunders down the airfield's runway. The major smirked and stood up before walking calmly to the exit. The other members walked behind him in unison.

Once they're outside, they're greeted by 3 more planes taxiing to the parking spot right next to the red F-15SEs. The 3 planes are F-22A Raptors, the canceled model of the newer F-22M Raptor. The pilots climbed out from their cockpits and walked towards the major and his men. Two of the pilots saluted the major while the other one just stood in silence.

The major smiled as he approached the pilot and greeted him.

"Good to see you."

* * *

**_One month later…._**

* * *

**Pearl Islands, Southwestern Atlantic region, Atlantic Ocean**

**17/01/2065, 1040hrs (Local Time)**

( watch?v=lbapsli9er8)

"Anax 1 to all units. We're approaching the target area."

Pearl islands, the once former oasis for naval ships who wanted to cross the wide Atlantic sea now just a barren wasteland trying to recover from the nuclear attack it took 33 years ago. The place itself have been cleaned from any radioactive substances but the remains of the harbor were never cleaned.

In short, this place is a perfect place to hide something.

"Anax 2 roger that."

"3 copies."

"Sweepers acknowledged."

Now the wave of the war is going to strike these islands again. New Intel suggests that the Drakonians had developed a new weapon and the container ship carrying it was suspected to have refueled in these island chains. The Animan Apache squadron "Anax" in addition of the Ajagaran Black Hawk squadron "Sweeper" was tasked to deal with this threat. Their mission is simple, find the container ship and find the weapon so it can be brought back and analyzed by Mobian Corp.

**"Lancers center call sign Knight to helicopters. Intel has confirmed the ship's location further north of the island. They've also detected some Drakonian forces on the ground, be careful out there."**

"Roger that Knight, we'll keep an eye out for it.." Anax 2 replied the commanding operator.

"Even if those yanks try to shoot us, we'll take their heads off, this is our turf." Anax 1 added. "Let's crush those Draks."

"Yeah. Gunners, you ready?" Sweeper 1's pilot asked the two hawk-gunners sitting in the back.

"Ready as I ever be cap." The gunner on the right stated.

"Same with me." The gunner on the left added.

With that the helicopter squadron advances to their target area. Old buildings were seen in the horizon. Those buildings are what's left of the once great JAF harbor before a nuke wipe it out from the map. The team made it to the ruins, looking out for any Drakonian presence in the area.

"This place brings me back." Sweeper 2's pilot sighed.

"To what?" another pilot snapped. " You're not even born yet when _Tres Funera_ happened!"

There's a moment of silence before Sweeper 2 responds grimly:

"My father died here."

Before the other pilot can reply, an RPG whizzed pass the Black Hawks, enough to make them scatter from their formation.

"RPG!" exclaimed Sweeper 3 as he released two flares to confuse the missile. "Gunners let's rock and roll!"

"You got it!"

There are a few Drakonian soldiers on the ground, one of them holding an RPG launcher. Sweeper 3's right hawk gunner aimed his minigun at the soldiers before opening fire at them. Bullets whizzed passed the soldiers like the wind, one soldier got hit square in the face, he soon drop dead along with his comrades. The RPG launcher launches another missile at the Black Hawk, failing to see the gunners minigun is able to intercept the missile in mid-air The RPG launcher was quickly dealt with a few short burst from the gunners.

"Hostiles silenced cap." The gunner stated.

"Good work, moving on." Sweeper 3 replied, advancing with the other helicopters.

The group arrived at the ruins, every pilot scans the ground aswell in the air for any enemy presence in the area. Among the sounds of the helicopters' spinning blades the sounds of gunfire was heard from the ground. The Drakonians came out from their hiding to shoot down these annoying flies out of the sky.

"Welcoming party boys." Anax 1 exclaimed as his Apache positioned itself for an attack. "Sweepers give those yanks hell."

"Roger that cap." Sweeper 1 replied. "Gunners, take 'em out."

The gunners aimed their miniguns at the soldiers standing below the ground or above in the rooftops, each weave of gunfire sends the soldiers to their knees as their bodies being turned into swiss cheese. An RPG launcher launches a missile at Sweeper 4 but the gunners easily take out the missile with their miniguns, however this launch was merely a distraction for another RPG being launched from behind. The missile hit the tail rotor, leaving the Black Hawk to spiral down into the ground.

"This is Sweeper 4 we're hit and going down!" the pilot exclaims between the chopper's warning sounds. The crews braced for impact as the wounded helicopter crashed shortly afterwards.

"Sweeper lead to Knight be advised, Sweeper 4 is down." Sweeper 1 stated to base command.

**"Knight acknowledges Sweeper, A rescue party is on their way. Continue to engage the hostiles." **Knight responded.

"Sweeper." Sweeper 1 replied before he re-positions the Black Hawk for another assault.

More Drakonian soldiers arrived and this time they brought mobile Anti-Air Guns to shoot down the allied helicopters.

"They've got AA guns." Sweeper 2 said. "Anax flight please neutralize those guns for us."

"Anax copies." Came the reply. The Apache fires rocket pods at the mobile AA gun, disintegrating the vehicle along with those onboard. More vehicles showed up but Anax team handled them with ease, leaving Sweeper team to deal with the soldiers. After a while the area is marked clear of any enemy resistance.

"Area neutralized. Moving on to the next one." Anax 1 announced.

The team advanced to the next area, which is the harbour's former bunkers and barracks. By now the enemy has come out from their hiding and preparing for the choppers to arrive, several RPG launchers launches their load at the Black Hawk formation and the AA gunners fires at the Apaches.

"Whoa." Anax 2 whistled as his Apache dodge the incoming gunfire. "That's some shit they've got down there."

"Quit talking and start firing." Anax 1 barked firmly, shooting an AA truck with the Apache's 30mm chain gun. The truck's engine caught fire and it's crews abandoned it and for a good reason. Several seconds later the truck exploded, blowing some soldiers away.

Another RPG was launched at the Apaches but they took action by releasing some flares and retaliated by firing their rocket pods at the launcher. The soldier carrying the RPG released his weapon and start running but the weapon got to him first, incinerating him. After the Apaches taken care of the AA trucks, the Black Hawks moved in to finish off the remaining soldiers.

"Gunners flame 'em!" Sweeper 3 exclaims through the hum of the miniguns' fire.

Soon the rest of the enemy soldiers were wiped clean by the helicopters and the team moves on to a different area, more precisely a large crater. The crater itself have been filled with seawater and the corals and reefs are slowly colonizing the harbor's ruins which sank to the bottom of the ocean. The area is slowly rehabilitating itself after the nuclear waste had been cleaned. Each pilots and the crew on-board had different thoughts when they see the crater but there's one thing they had in mind.

The team passed the crater and heads to the place where the container ship. Though they passed several buildings which is the harbor's former main command building and the old airstrip. When the team arrived near the airstrip, something on the right catches Anax 2's attention. He turned his attention to the thing and saw one Mi-24 "Hind" heading towards him.

"Woah shit!" Anax 2 barked as he and his co-pilot maneuvered the Apache out from the Hind's path. The battle between the two helicopters was inevitable.

"Cap, I've got a Hind here." Anax 2 spoke, trying to keep his cool. "Mind helping out?"

"Roger 2. I'm sending Sweeper 2 to help you." Anax 1 replied. "I'm gonna take out those other Hinds on the ground."

With that Sweeper 2 arrived just in time to help out Anax 2 while Anax 1 and the others head over to the hangars where the other Hinds are waiting to take off. Once they got closer, they saw three Hinds ready for take off and two Yak-141 "Freestyles" starting up.

"Damn, they've got Freestyles too?" Sweeper 3 spoke in disbelief.

"It'll be hell for us if those things took off." his co-pilot pointed out.

"Damn right." Anax 1 replied. "Sweepers. Give those Freestyles hell."

"Got it chief." Sweeper 1 replied, positioning his Black Hawk so the gunner can get a clear shot. The soldiers on the ground opened fire in a desperate attempt to protect their planes but they're wiped out by Sweeper 3's gunners.

Meanwhile, Anax 2 and Sweeper 2 still got their hands full on the Hind. They devised a plan to shoot the Hind quickly so they can help out the others. Anax 2 baits the Hind into chasing him while Sweeper 2 and the gunners waited for the precise moment. The three helicopters danced around with Sweeper 2's gunners waiting for a clear shot at the Hind's cockpit, when they had the chance the gunners unleashed all they've got on the Hind. The Hind's pilots were killed instantly when the bullets penetrated their glass cockpit and soon enough the Hind started spiraling down and crashed at the airstrip.

"Hind down." Sweeper 2 announced. "Good work gunners, Anax."

"Welcome Sweep." Both Anax 2 and the gunner complied. "Now let's get back to the action."

The two helicopters flies back, just in time when the others had finished wiping out the soldiers and their vehicles. One Freestyle tried to take off but Anax 1 and 2 destroyed it in time. Soon enough the team finished clearing the airstrip and heads over to the last known position of the container ship. Once they arrived, the container ship "Northern Demon" had already sailed to the open ocean, Anax 1 contacted Knight for further details.

"Anax to Knight. We have the Northern Demon in sight."

**"Good work." **Knight complimented. "**You're cleared to neutralize the ship and secure it's cargo."**

"Roger that Knight. Anax out." Anax 1 ended the transmission before switching to his team's frequency. "Alright, you're all cleared to engage the ship."

"Copy that chief." Sweeper 1 replied.

As if on cue, the Drakonian soldiers on the ship opened fire at the team. One RPG was launched and nearly hit Anax 2. Anax 1 retaliated by firing the Apache's 30mm cannon at the soldier carrying the RPG and Sweeper 1's left gunner wipes out the soldiers on the deck. More soldiers came pouring out from the bridge but Sweeper 2's right gunner intercept them in time, on the deck several Drakonian soldiers dropped dead from the minigun's fire but two soldiers manages to escape and hide inside one of the crates.

"Damn!" the soldier cursed in his native language. "Our mission have failed. What shall we do now!?"

But his comrade was silent and calm, as if this unexpected attack doesn't change anything. He turned to his comrade and smirked.

"Then we shall give those proud vermins a taste of our new weapon." He activated his communicator and spoke. "Do it."

Back in the air, the team is just finishing wrapping up the remaining soldiers.

"That's the last of 'em." Sweeper 1 spoke. "Okay let's prepare a drop for our troo—"

But before he could finished his sentence, a strange and ominous buzzing sound was heard on everyone's radio frequency. Before they can find where the sound is coming from, all the helicopter's systems, computers and main engine stopped working.

"What the HELL!?" Sweeper 1 exclaimed as the Black Hawk starts descending to the sea. "Everyone! Brace for impact! We're going down!"

"WE"RE **ALL** GOING DOWN!" another pilot screamed in disbelief.

"NO!"

All hell breaks loose as the Black Hawks and the Apaches ditched into the sea. Then there's nothing but the sounds of the container ship's engine and the sea breeze. The surviving Drakonian soldiers come out from their hiding and saw what's left of the allied helicopters. One of them smirked, imitating the allied forces' salute and spoke in an accented English:

"Good night allied vermins."

* * *

**A/N: The story takes place in an alternate universe.**


	2. Chapter 1: Crossbow

**A/N: Ace Combat belongs to Namco/Bandai and Project ACES**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Crossbow**

**_The first strike will always be retaliated by an another_** ~ Unknown

* * *

**Orion Air Force Base, Northern Anima  
02/13/2065 0925hrs**

Orion Air Force Base; the only large military base that's capable of protecting the United Kingdom of Anima's Northern border. The base itself is a former civilian international airport, the airport was built to handle tourist since Northern Anima was a state that relies on it's beautiful beaches and spectacular reefs to attract foreigners.

But ever since the war began; the tourist's numbers have plummeted due to Drakonia's nuclear threat that sparked the 33 year war. With the airport used just for domestic flights and the nuclear threat still affecting the airline industry, the airport was eventually bought by the government and turned into an air force base.

A car pulled up from the main gate and parked at the main base entrance, a man; roughly in his mid twenties stepped out from the vehicle along with another man. The other man is clearly older and seems to be in his thirties, he had a black hair and a noticeable five-o clock shadow along his chin and jawline. He wears a brown aviator jacket and gray pants.

"Here we are." The first man spoke, "Your new home."  
The other man gazed at the structure before him, Orion is impressive for a standard regional air base, it sure beats the hell-hole he was thrown into. The first man entered first while the second man took his time entering the base. The two eventually arrived at the base's main hall, numerous posters and propagandas littered the walls, the second man sat down at a sofa while the first man pulled some papers out from his suitcase.  
The man then hands over the papers at the second man,

"Fill the registration please." He said, the second man just eyed the paper and the first man skeptically.

"Don't worry Konstantine." The man smiled, "I will take care the rest. You just fill that registration and please leave the name box unfilled."

The second man; Konstantine, gave the first man one last look before returning his attention at the papers. After fifteen minutes, Konstantine hands over the registration papers back at the first man, the man double check the form before taking out his pen and writes on the empty name box. Once he's finished, the man returned his attention at Konstantine.

"Thank you. from now on you're Captain Grint Akerson flying number two for the 122nd Fighter Wing, 2nd Squadron. Your flight lead will be here shortly."

_"Grint Akerson huh?"_ Konstantine or Grint thought, _"Might well get used to it."_

Grint nodded and Carson leaves him behind, Grint observes the waiting room quietly, some slogans caught his attention, one of them reads;

**"Join our army to defeat the foul Drakonians."**

He moved on to another rather ridiculous-looking poster. The poster shows some pilots or rather piss poor actors posing as pilots pointing at him with these words written in bold below them;

**"THE AIR FORCE NEEDS YOUR HELP! JOIN US TODAY AND YOU WILL TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE A HERO TO YOUR KINGDOM! THE TRI-FORCE WILL DEFEND US!"**

Grint raised his eyebrow at the poster's slogan and chuckled.

"Enjoying those posters eh?" a feminine voice spoke behind him, "That last one is too cheesy for my taste."

He turned around and saw a woman with blue eyes, shoulder length brown hair, some markings on her neck, arms, and forehead, she's wearing a gray flight suit underneath a black flight jacket with some insignias on it.

"I agree. That last poster was indeed too ridiculous for recruiting new meat." Grint remarked, earning a warm chuckle from the woman.

"At least it brings some spoiled brats to the air force." She shrugged. "Including you."

"I'm not like them." Grint replied,."I've come here under my own reasons and free will."

"Then Lt. Carson had a good reason to choose you as my wingman." She spoke, Grint nodded in return.

"Major Maria Frederick." She smiled while offering her hand, Grint looked at her hand for a second before slowly shaking back with her and introduced himself,

"Grint Akerson." He said. "Former Captain of the 107th ma'am."

"Captain of the 107th eh?." She looked into some papers which Carson had given to her with interest,

"It says here that you're also a former member of Patria's 123rd Fighter Wing, 4th Aggressor Squadron." She looked at him again,

"So beside being a test pilot, you also an aggressor pilot?"

"Yes Major." Grint answered with a nod. Maria looked at the papers again; shifting each page as she mumbled every important notes about the pilot standing before him.

"…Tested the YF-27A twelve times…and a leading expert on Drakonia's front line fighters mainly the Sukhoi variants…" With a sigh of relief, Maria puts the papers down before gazing the man in front of her.

"Looks like you've got what it takes and I'm sure that your expertise on the enemy will be useful in battle." She gave him a genuine smile,

"Welcome to my squad Captain Akerson."

"Thank you Major." He nodded.

"C'mon I'll show you to your room." Maria led Grint through the hall and into a room, it's quite a small room barely enough for two people to enter. Grint entered the room and looked around, it maybe small but this room will have to do for now.

"This is your room, I know it's small but it's all we got left, now rest up; we've got some training in an hour." Maria left the room, Grint dropped all his things and laid on the bed. His mind is everywhere, from the small ventilation shaft to some old posters glued to the walls, he began to think about his memories.

Grint stood up and looks into the small wardrobe, he saw two green flight suits hanged together, both of them bore an insignia which depicts a black bird presumably a raven or a crow wrapped by two red ribbons, the first ribbon had a letter which reads: 122nd Fighter Wing while the other reads: 2nd Squadron,

_"This must be hers"_ he thought, the first flight suit did belong to Maria cause it bore her name, but the other one had it's name tag stitched out as if someone didn't want anyone else to know his or her name, then he saw a picture glued to the back of the wardrobe, it was the picture of Maria and some guy whose face had been cut out leaving only his body in the picture, Grint looked at this photo, Maria was smiling happily with this stranger.

Grint put the photo back into the wardrobe before laying back down on the bed. Fatigue takes over as he slowly drifts away into a deep slumber.

-  
**1000hrs**

Grint's sleep was interrupted when he heard a knock coming from his door, lazily; he sat up and opened the door; finding Maria already wearing her full flight gear.

"Get dressed, meet me on the hangar."

Grint only nodded in return, he closed the door and opened the wardrobe, grabbing his flight suit he put away earlier and gearing them up. His sleep earlier was anything but sound, frequent nightmares came back to haunt him whenever he closed his eyes,

and he was getting tired of it.

After a few minutes, he got out from his room in full gear and walked down the hall; heading for the hangar.

**As expected**, the hangar was buzzling with activity, mechanics and engineers working on the damaged planes or loading up some ordnances onto the planes. The hangar was big; big enough to house two Boeing 737, on the left side of the hangar Grint saw Maria inspecting her plane which is a black tinted F-27C Dominator.

Grint felt his stomach turned when he saw the jet.

The F-27C nicknamed the "Dominator" is Mobian Aerospace's newest fighter and Anima's first jet that's specifically designed for one thing and one thing only; Air Superiority. The Dominator can easily outmaneuver the Drakonian Sukhoi jets and it's even comparable to the legendary F-15. Currently the Dominator is Anima's front line fighter jet, replacing the aging F-15s and the failed F-22 Raptor program. New models designed for multirole capability is already out and it's attracted many countries who intended to replace their aging fighters.

Hesitantly; Grint walked up to the black Dominator and saw the same insignia he saw at those flight suits painted on the bird's tailfin. Maria finally noticed him after she's done inspecting the nozzles.

"Ah, there you are. The second plane is ready for you." She said while pointing to another Dominator beside hers. The second Dominator had the same color as Maria's Dominator, albeit with a darker shade of the scheme painted on it's nose.

"I thought the training was supposed to be 30 minutes from now." Grint said,

"Change of plans Captain." Maria replied as she wears her helmet, "Lt. Col. McGaile has changed our patrol schedule for today."

Grint went silent after hearing the statement, if the base commander decides to change the schedule then something must be up but he shrugs off that thought and went back to his main problem; the second Dominator.

"Excuse me Major." He called to Maria whose already climbing inside the cockpit,

"What is it Captain Akerson?" she answered,

"I'm truly grateful that you provide me a plane to use but I can't use it." Some of his words seems stuck on his throat,

"Can't use it?" Maria raised an eyebrow, she climbed back down to face him,

"Why can't you use it Captain?"

Grint searched his thoughts for a reasonable answer, finally; he got one.

"Did you remember the YF-27A's design flaw?"

"Yes, I remember it." Maria nodded grimly, honestly; she didn't want to remember that series of tragic events that claimed many lives. When the first prototype of the YF-27A was introduced, no one could see that the plane hides a hidden flaw. When an airshow was held to introduce this new fighter, the engines on the three YF-27A demonstrators explodes and the planes crashed down to the spectators below.

Mobian Aerospace immediately ceased all YF-27A development until the problem could be fixed. Ten months after the incident, the new delta winged YF-27B was built to test the new engine design, luckily the problem went away with the old engine and the F-27C was built with this new engine.

Maria suddenly remembered, one of the notes on Grint's papers mentioned that Grint was involved in that accident and was left heavily traumatized by that event.

"Alright, I understand Captain." She finally spoke, but she pondered about what kind of plane her new wingman should fly. Then she saw a young mechanic pass by who just finished his work on a nearby plane,

"Oi, JAC Fred come here!"

"Major!" the Junior Aircraftsman known as Fred yelped before saluting her, "What can I do for you ma'am?"

"Please at ease JAC Fred." Maria chuckled before introducing the Junior Aircraftsman to Grint, both men shakes their hands in acknowledgement,

"This is Captain Grint; he's new here, and a former test pilot for the Dominators. He's one of the pilots that survived the YF-27 incident but that event traumatized him. So make sure he's airborne with whatever plane he thinks suitable for him."

"Of course ma'am." Fred replied,

She turned her attention back at Grint,

"I'll be waiting for you on the apron. Don't be late." Grint only nodded in return. Satisfied by his answer; she climbed back into the cockpit and closed it. Both Fred and Grint walked away from the plane as it's engines roared to life, slowly; the Dominator inched it's way out from the hangar.

"So." Fred began, "I'm not sure what plane suits you sir but—"

"I'm afraid none of the planes here suits me." Grint cuts in,

"So what plane suits you sir?" Fred asked the Captain.

"Well." Grint scratched his chin thoughtfully, "I'm also a former Aggressor pilot and I'm an expert on Drakonian planes."

"Whoa." Fred said in awe, "An Aggressor pilot and an expert of the enemy planes? We never had pilots like you before!"

"So that means you know which plane is suitable for me?" Grint said

"I think I know sir." Fred activated his communicator and contacted someone,

"Chief. I'm going to Hangar C-5 with the Major's new wingman."

"Copy that JAC Winston, be careful in there." Another voice who Grint assumed to be Fred's Chief replied, Fred turned off the comm. and led Grint to a nearby tractor. Soon, both men drive out from the hangar and head for the farthest hangar from the main building.

Grint and Fred arrived at the hangar C-5. The latter explained that the hangar is used to store whatever the enemy left behind: jets, tanks, and scraps but the hangar was unused for years. When they arrived, Grint could see the hangar's code painted on the side, it reads 'HANGAR C-5'.

"You might cover your nose Captain." Fred warned as he and Grint were about to enter the hangar, "It smells like shit in there."

"I'm used to that." Grint replied flatly.

"Okay suit yourself sir." Fred opened the small hangar door; the smell of burned metal, jet fuel and even some traces of decomposing flesh gushed out from the inside, Fred stepped back trying to get some fresh air but Grint seems used to that smell as he walked calmly into the door.

"You coming?" Grint stopped and looked back.

"Oh yeah." Fred entered the hangar, trying not to throw up "F...Follow me sir."  
The two enters the hangar, it's quite dark the only light source is the sunlight shining from outside, Fred guided Grint through some of the scraps scattered all over the floor. Each of them had a colored tag to separate them from the other scraps; scraps with yellow tags mostly came from tanks and other land based weapons, and the scraps with red tags came from downed or destroyed enemy planes.

They continue to walk deeper into the darkness until a huge object blocked their path, Fred turn on his flashlight to see through, the hangar's lights were broken due to the place hadn't been used for years. As the light illuminates the rear part of the object; a Drakonian Air Force emblem and an insignia depicting a small shark carved into the object's tailfin.

Grint tells Fred to shine his flashlight into the front of the plane, the light illuminates the nose of the jet; revealing a mouth filled with jagged teeth, he asked how do they get this plane, Fred gave him the answer:

"This plane belonged to a Drakonian defector. The defector is none other than the feared ace they call Akula, he's ordered to land at Lancers AB in the south. I heard he's in prison now, we've transferred it here because Lancers AB already had enough planes to store." Grint turns his attention to the shark mouth plane,

"If you want to fly it then go ahead, it's still waiting for scraps or an aggressor squad to pick it up."

Grint thought for a second,

"What about ammo?"

"Don't worry, when the defector got thrown into the dump, his plane is still fully armed." Fred explained, Grint took Fred's flashlight and shines it to the object's wings, Fred said the truth the plane is still fully armed, Grint checks the gun pod, the gun and the bullets are still there, Grint took a step back from the plane. He turned around and said to the mechanic:

"Open the hangar doors."

Slowly the hangar doors opened, letting the sunlight shone inside; lighting up the dark hangar. A grey colored Su-35S/BM slowly made it's way outside the hangar, Drakonian Air Force emblems still engraved on it's wings and tailfin, the number 006 engraved on the side of the cockpit and on it's nose, a large shark mouth beamed on the sunlight as if it's ready to strike fear to everybody on the base.

Fred looked at shark mouth plane with a nervous look, he already saw the plane before but every time he sees it, his mind always pictures the shark mouth opening up ready to swallow him whole. Grint taxis from the hangar to the main apron where Maria is already there waiting for him.

When the Major saw Grint pulled up beside her, she was surprised to see him use the plane she wished she wouldn't have to see again.

"Nice plane you got there Captain." She said with a hint of worry in her voice, as Grint's Flanker stopped beside her plane. "I thought you're going to pick something more…um…allied forces related."

"The Flanker suits me just fine Major." Grint replied.

"Well make sure you replace those Drakonian Air Force emblems with ours." She spoke sternly, "I don't want my new wingman to get caught on a Blue on Blue situation. Also from now on your call sign is Corvus 2; I will be referring to you with this name at all times."

"Roger Major." Grint shortly replied. Maria switched her comm's channel to the tower's frequency.

"Tower this is Corvus Squadron, requesting taxi to runway."

**"Tower to Corvus Squadron; use taxiway India, Foxtrot 6, Echo 4 and hold short on runway 27, await further orders there."** The tower replied.

"Corvus 1 to Tower roger; taxi to runway 27 using taxiway India, Foxtrot 6, Echo 4."

Slowly; Maria's Dominator taxis to the designated taxiways with Grint slowly following behind her, Grint take this time to check his pre-flight checklist, he had done this checks millions of time before so it's like a second nature to him.

Soon both planes reached the runway,

**"Tower to Corvus, taxi into position and hold."** The tower instructed

"Understood." Maria replied

Both planes move into position at the end of the runway until the two planes are now side by side. Soon the tower gave the squadron a green light;

**"Corvus Squadron, you're cleared for take off."**

"Corvus 1 roger that." Maria replied.

"Corvus 2." Grint replied, both pilots activated the afterburners and pushed the throttles, soon both planes are roaring down the runway. The lighter F-27C lifts up from the ground first while Grint's Flanker is still approaching it's maximum take off speed.

When the Flanker hits the the top speed; Grint pitched the nose upwards and soon the Flanker took into the air, a blissful feeling came over him as he was reunited with the skies.

**"Tower to Corvus Squadron. Climb and maintain 150, turn right to vector 083. Happy hunting Major."**

"Corvus 1 roger. Over and out" Maria replied, "Follow me Corvus 2."

As the transmission ended, both planes banked to the right; heading for their patrol area.

**En-route to Spinal Ridge, Western Anima  
02/13/2065 1250hrs**

CORVUS  
Anima Royal Air Force  
2nd Regional Air Defense Division, 122nd Fighter Wing, 2nd Squadron

Corvus is flying in moderate military power towards their patrol area, Grint just spends his time gazing at the beautiful coastal view below him and occasionally checks the instruments in front of him. Maria on the other hand gazed the shark-mouth Flanker with concern, her heart sank whenever she took a closer look at the shark-mouth painted on the Flanker's bottom nose, she wondered why Grint even choose this plane in the first place.

Suddenly, her Dominator's computer beeped; indicating an incoming message from base command. She turned on her comm. and let the message through;

**"This is Orion to Corvus Flight."**

"Orion, this is Corvus. Strong signal, go ahead."

**"Corvus this is just in. The Artemetean radar network has detected several large hits coming from the ocean between vectors 070 through 090 and they have a valid Drakonian ID signals. We have lost their signal at this time but we estimated their time of arrival is 25 minutes."**

Maria frowned at this,

"An attack sir?"

**"I'm afraid so."** Orion sighed, **"Buteo Squadron and an AWACS are taking off right now and I've already informed Lancers about this. Corvus, cancel your patrol immediately and head for Spinal Ridge. Rendezvous with the other squadrons and await further instructions from the AWACS."**

"Roger Orion." Maria acknowledged, "Corvus out."

Corvus squad took their time to get to their mission airspace, they're waiting for Buteo squadron, the AWACS and the Lancers' squadrons to rendezvous with them. 12 minutes passed by and a squadron of two F-35As and one F-27C approached Corvus from their left, the leader immediately contacted Maria.

"Buteo 1 to Raven 1. I hope we're not late for the party Major."

"No you're not Buteo 1." Maria spoke with a slight annoyance in her voice, "And stop with the Raven crap Captain!"

**BUTEO  
Anima Royal Air Force  
2nd Regional Air Defense Division, 122nd Fighter Wing, 1st Squadron**

"Raven?" Grint asked in confusion,

"Don't ask Corvus 2." Maria snapped, Grint shrugs off the thought and focused to his front.

"Hey Major is that your new wingman?" a young voice asked,

"Correct Buteo 3." Maria answered. Grint saw an F-35A pulled up beside him and sees the pilot waving at him. Grint reluctantly waved back before he focused back to his front. Soon he sees another flight of of F-35As approaching from the front right.

**ARIES  
Anima Royal Air Force  
3rd Regional Air Defense Division, 4th Fighter Wing, 1st Squadron**

"This is Aries 1, reporting in for duty." A male voice sounded, the four plane formation passed the group from the right before turning to join up with the formation.

"Roger Aries, welcome aboard." Buteo 1 spoke.

The group flies for another 5 minutes before yet another squadron arrives, this time; the squad was made up by two Dominators and two F-35Bs.

"Gemini Squadron here." A warm feminine voice came through Maria's comm, "It's good to be flying with you today Frederick."

**GEMINI  
Anima Royal Air Force  
3rd Regional Air Defense Division, 4th Fighter Wing, 3rd Squadron**

"I'm glad to see you too Ashley." Maria replied back with a chuckle.

"Yeah, it's been a while eh?" the Gemini leader; Ashley replied. "And I see you have a new wingman but his plane kinda look…um…well…"

"He's an aggressor Ashley." Maria replied, "And a Suk-jet expert to boot. Pilots like him are getting rarer these days."

"True." Ashley said, "Then I'm looking forward to see his performance."

"Us too." Aries 1 added, "Those Draks are gonna freak if they see a Flanker flying against them."

"Haha, yeah!" Buteo 3 laughed.

**"Alright ladies and gents,** **enough with the chatter."** Another voice cuts in through everyone's radio. Grint looked upwards and finds a huge plane flying above them, the plane is a Boeing 777-200 with a huge radar disc installed on it's upper fuselage.

(watch?v=PhnY9faBguo)

Their AWACS has arrived.

**"This the Airborne Warning And Control System call sign Arcturus."** The AWACS operator said, **"We have less than 5 minutes before the bombers arrived. Continue flying on your current heading and engage immediately after you spotted them."**

"Corvus roger."

"Buteo flight roger."

"Aries acknowledged."

"Gemini squadron roger."

The group pushed their throttle to full military power and speeds off to the contact point. 5 minutes later, they still don't have visual contact on the bombers. The group remained calm until one of Ashley's wingmen breaks the silence,

"Gemini 3 to AWACS Arcturus!" He said with a little edge on his voice, "Tally-ho on the bomber squadron. Current position is 3 o'clock and flying low along the water."

Without any second notice, the pilots turned to the right and sure enough; they saw the five-plane formation flying low to avoid radar detection.

**"Arcturus to Corvus, confirm ID status on the enemy formation."**

"This is Corvus, I have positive IDs on the formation. Formation consists of five Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjacks with MiGs as its' escorts." Maria explained,

"We're engaging them now."

After finishing that sentence, Maria banked her Dominator to the right and descended to the bombers' current altitude, Grint soon followed suit with his weapons armed and ready.

**"This is Arcturus to all aircraft, weapons hot; don't let them drop their payload."**

"Buteo squad engaging."

"Aries flight roger, moving to engage enemy."

"Gemini acknowledged. We'll stop them right here!"

The tight formation dispersed following Corvus' lead. Maria instructed the Gemini and Aries Squadron to keep the escorts busy while she, Grint and Buteo Squadron deal with the bombers.

"Sounds good Major." Buteo 1 said, "I'll take the ones on the left."

"Roger Buteo." Maria responded back. "Corvus 2, keep an eye on my six."

"Corvus 2 copies." Grint replied. He reduced his speed to get behind Maria's Dominator; tailing and covering her six o' clock position while Maria focused on the bomber in front of her.

She quickly fired her 20mm vulcan cannon at the Blackjack, bullets grazed the left engine and the stabilizers of the plane, the Blackjack's pilots tried to outmaneuver Maria from their tail but it was no use, Maria's Dominator spew more bullets at it's engines, the engines bursts into fiery explosion and tearing apart the tailfin and stabilizers, the bomber starts to plummet down to earth.

"Splash one bomber." Maria announced the kill,

**"Four targets remaining."**

"One of ours went down." a bomber pilot said in worry,

"Keep calm and stay in formation." The lead bomber pilot ordered, "Escorts, take out those monarch vermins out of the skies."

"Роджер, leave them to us." A MiG pilot responded. Seconds later; Maria's radar shows more incoming MiGs heading towards their location, she quietly cursed under her breath before her comm beeped again as she receives another transmission from Buteo.

"Buteo 1 to AWACS, the bloody escorts keep nipping on my tail. I'm going to leave the bombers to Buteo 3 while Buteo 2 and I handle the extras."

**"Roger that Buteo 1, reduce the escorts' numbers so you have a clean shot at the bombers."** Arcturus ordered, **"Also Gemini Squadron be advised; we've detected more bogeys inbound from vector 068."**

"Buteo 1."

"Gemini 1 roger."

Grint scanned the skies for more MiGs to hunt, then he saw a MiG-29 whizzed passed him with an F-27C hot in his tail. Grint watched as the battle between the two small jets ensued.

"Buteo 1 Fox Two." Buteo 1 called out as a missile was launched from his F-27C and heads straight for a MiG. The MiG evades it but another F-35 fires his own missile at the MiG, this time destroying it.

"Bandido terminado." The F-35 pilot announced in an Espanish accent.

"Good work Buteo 2." Buteo 1 praised, "Continue to engage."

"Roger sir." Buteo 2 banked left to find more MiGs to destroy.

"Grint watch your tail!" Maria warned as he saw a MiG-21BM gunning him down. Grint quickly pulls out from the line of fire and tried to get this bastard off his tail, the Flanker dances through each wave of fire the MiG spew out on him, Grint rolls from left to right, instinct flowed through his mind like a raging river, rapid sensations filled his body.

The MiG fires a missile at the Flanker but Grint punch out a few flares before turning to the left. The MiG continued to pursue the big Flanker in front of him, forgetting that Maria is sneaking up behind him, she fires a quick burst from the 20mm cannon; enough to surprise the MiG pilot, Grint uses this chance to slow down; allowing the MiG to overshoot his plane,

"сука!" the MiG pilot cursed as he realized that the tables has been turned against him

The MiG dashes frantically to get Grint off his tail, Grint unleashes his cannon on the MiG's left wing, the wing broke off sending the MiG spiraling out of control, unsatisfied Grint fires more bullets on the MiG this time the bullets grazed it's engine, the damage engine explodes tearing the MiG apart with brute force, the pilot was thrown out off his plane like rag doll.

"Splashed a MiG." Grint announced.

"Not bad for a test pilot," Maria complimented "Corvus 2 return to formation, keep an eye on my six."

Grint replied with a short _Roger _before he flew to Maria's back as she engages with another Blackjack, Maria spews her bullets on the plane, the bomber quickly decreased it's speed, Maria yelped at this, she quickly pulled the stick hard avoiding the bomber's massive bulk just in time, Grint however took this opportunity to score a kill, he fires his Vympel R-73 at the bomber's engines,

"Fox Two." the bomber releases it's flares but it's too late, the Vympel hit it's engines destroying it in the process, the bomber starts to break up in mid-air spewing flames, hydraulic oil and jet fuel.

**"Second Blackjack downed."** Arcturus announced, **"Three targets remaining."**

"Two of ours have went down!" a bomber pilot said in horror. "We can't make it sir!"

"Yes we can comrade." The lead bomber pilot assured, "Have faith on our motherland so we can complete our mission."

"Damn! This is Gemini 3 I've been hit. I'm bailing out." Gemini 3 called out, Grint looked back and saw the F-35A trailing black smoke. A few seconds later, the canopy was blown open and the pilot ejected safely. The MiG who shot him down disengages and went to support the bombers.

"Bandit shot down." The Drakonian pilot announced.

"Gemini 3 is out, I see a chute. Arcturus requesting S.A.R." Ashley said in concern as Grint shifted his attention back to the mission.

He saw the MiG who shot down Gemini 3, he turned his Flanker left and starts to pursue the Fishbed. The pilot was surprised to see a Flanker jet pursuing him.

"What the…!" before he could finish his curse; Grint fired his 30mm cannon at him, he immediately performed a corkscrew roll to evade the gunfire but much to his bad luck; a Sidewinder came in and hits his rudder.

"_дерьмо_…...!" the pilot cursed before his voice was drowned by static and alarms, the Fishbed exploded shortly after that. Grint looked back and saw a gray Dominator tailing him.

"Splash." Ashley announced, "Thanks for distracting him Corvus 2."

Grint stayed silent.

"You don't talk much do ya? I like pilots like that, now let's get back to the action."

The Dominator turned back to the bombers while Grint stayed for a while before returning too. Grint wasn't very happy about Gemini 1 stealing his kill but she had the right to shoot that plane down. He sighed and decides to let that discomforting thought go.

_"Well, at least there's more escorts to shoot down."_

Meanwhile Maria quickly targeted another Blackjack, unknown to her, a MiG-29K sneaked up behind her and start gunning her down, Maria just sighed and evades the gunfire. She plays with her stick; banking slightly to the left and to the right; confusing the Fulcrum's pilot. Once the pilot is confused, she slowed down her Dominator and rolls hard to the right, the pilot didn't have time to react and overshot her plane, now it's her turn to gun the Fulcrum down. The 20mm rounds impacted the fuselage and right rudder, signaling the pilot to eject from his would-be coffin.

"Splash two." The canopy's blown off nearly hitting Maria's Dominator and the pilot shoots out like a rocket before parachuting to safety. But out of nowhere, Grint's Su-35S/BM appeared and shoots his parachute, making him fall down to his death. Maria could only watch as her new wingman banked away to engage the other escorts.

"This is Gemini 1, what's the status on the S.A.R?"

**"Arcturus to Gemini leader, S.A.R is on their way."**

Maria is quite surprised to see Grint's merciless nature; he gunned down a helpless pilot after he bailed out, she shrugs that off to keep focus on her mission: bringing down the bombers.

* * *

The battle rages on for half an hour and all those time were spent eliminating most of the escorts. Gemini Squadron are left with just two fighters, Aries Squadron lost a pilot, and Buteo Squadron's number two was forced to retreat after an enemy MiG shoots his right wing. Arcturus already contacted S.A.R. to pick up the downed pilots.

Meanwhile Maria and Grint is busy competing with one another, Maria had scored 4 kills while Grint top her off with 5 kills, she is really impressed at Grint's flying as he managed to outscore her by one kill, his moves definitely shows that he's indeed an aggressor pilot; flying and using tactics the enemy would likely use in combat.

But she wanted to even the score to prove that she's still Orion's ace.

Bullets streaked past Maria's plane as a MiG-29UB is pursuing her, she accelerated and used one of the bombers as a decoy, the MiG followed her; not knowing that she already slowed down and sneaks up behind him. She quickly fires a Sidewinder at the MiG.

"Corvus 1 Fox Two." She announced but to her dismay, the MiG releases a flare making the Sidewinder lost track of it's target, "Damn!" she cursed loudly, she begins to gun the MiG down, bullets continued to graze the MiG until one of it's engines exploded, turning the MiG and it's pilot into a fireball.

"Damn vermins...*static*…!"

"Splash five." Maria spoke, confirming her kill, meanwhile Grint is busy handling a Blackjack, he fired his Vympel R-73 at it but the bomber released it's flares just in time, Grint growled as he fired more 30mm rounds at the bomber's tailfin; shredding it to pieces. The bomber start to lose it's stability, Grint sees his chance, he fired his two Vympel R-27R at it's left wing and tail, the bomber spins out of control, tearing itself apart in the process.

**"Corvus 2 third bomber down."** Arcturus said, **"One target left."**

"Looks like I'm the last one." The last bomber pilot said simply, "No matter, I shall carry out my duties until the end."

Grint took a glance at the destroyed bomber, suddenly a grey flash caught him by surprise, when he look at his front he sees an Su-35S/BM colored exactly the same as his own plane, without hesitation; Grint push up the throttle and starts pursuing it.

Maria squinted her eyes in determination, she looked at the last Tu-160 in front of her, Grint's current score is 6 while she had 5, this bomber is her ticket to even her score, she loaded up her last Sidewinder waiting for a lock on, soon a beep was heard indicating she had full lock on, but as she's about to fire, Grint streaked passed her plane with the gray Su-35S/BM in front of him. This sudden surprise made her lost her sight of the bomber,

"Akerson!"

Grint ignored Maria's sudden outburst and continued to trail the Flanker, minutes passed by but he's still struggling with this gray demon. Somehow the Flanker always one step ahead from him; reading his movements even before he had time to do it.

_"This pilot must be their ace"_ he thought. Suddenly a buzzing noise is heard from his radio, at the same time Grint's IFF lost track of the Flanker in front of him; his HUD and all electrical systems are going haywire but the engines keep working. Grint could hear the other pilots cried as they had the same bizarre experience as him but the real twist is their planes' engines are completely shut down by the mysterious attack.

"This is Buteo 1, my plane won't respond to my command!"

"This is Corvus, my engines' out and my computer is going crazy." Maria stated in disbelief.

"Same here!" Ashley cuts in, "My computer won't shut up!"

"What the hell is going on!?" Buteo 3 yelled in confusion,

Grint tries to fix his computers before the faulty system could bring down his plane, it took him nearly 3 minutes to reactivate the Flanker's whole system until the plane is running at 100%. Grint scanned the skies and saw the gray fighter circling around him, he pushed his throttle forward and re-pursue the Flanker.

**"This is Arcturus, I'm detecting a strange signal coming from one of the planes in this area."**

"Which plane is it!?" Buteo 3 asked,

**"We're unable to pin point the exact location, there's too many unknown signatures on our radar!"**

The pilot of the gray Flanker smirked, he already thought about the allies might have the possibility to detect his weapon. Luckily, his weapon also had a built-in jammer system. He looked back and saw the shark-mouth still in hot pursuit.

The fight between the two pilots takes them both out to sea, occasional radio chatter between the allies are heard from his comm but he payed no attention to it. Suddenly the Flanker made a right turn and heads straight for the hotel buildings, Grint growled and followed suit, he finally had a clear shot of the Flanker as both raced towards the abandoned resorts, without hesitation; Grint pushed the trigger and a single R-27R was launched from his wingtip.

The Flanker didn't noticed the missile at first but to Grint's dismay, the Flanker punched out a few flares between two tall hotel buildings and the missile hits the building on it's side. Grint did a quick facepalm at his mistake before continuing his pursuit. The Flanker began to use the hotel buildings to his own advantage but that didn't affect Grint's performance, both Flankers turned around and round the tall buildings until the gray Flanker flies out to sea again.

Grint followed the Flanker out to sea, the Flanker turned upwards with Grint following closely behind him. Finally the Flanker gave Grint an opening to fire his 30mm cannon, bullets finally grazed the Flanker's tailfin but another invincible attack hits Grint's plane and soon his plane's computers began to go crazy again. It took Grint nearly twice the time to reactivate the whole system but when his Flanker is running at 100% again, the gray fighter has already fled from the airspace.

Maria was bewildered, her plane has just experienced total electrical and engine failure twice in a row and it all seems to start when she heard that ominous buzzing from her radio. Fortunately, her plane is now working smoothly, giving her a chance to focus back on the mission.

She saw her ticket to even the score in front of her. Deciding not to use her vulcan cannon, she decides to use the sidewinder instead. The Dominator's targeting system beeps as the computer tracks the Blackjack's heat signature, once the computer locks on to the bomber's engine; Maria pushed the trigger and fired the Sidewinder from the left wingtip.

"Fox two." She announced,

The Sidewinder made contact on the bomber's right engine, smoke and fire engulfed the engine as the bomber banked dangerously to the right. The bomber finally crashed wing first into the ocean and the secondary explosions caused by the bombs it's carrying followed shortly after.

**"All enemy bombers confirmed shot down and the remaining escorts are retreating."** Arcturus announced. **"Mission is complete, all aircraft return to base."**

Each pilot sighed in relief after the mission was over. The squadrons decides to regroup before returning to their respective bases, the S.A.R. will arrive shortly to pick up the downed pilots.

"Oi Frederick." Ashley began, "Where's your new wingman?"

Before Maria could even answer her, her answer arrived in the form of the shark-mouth Flanker pulling up beside her plane.

"Oh. Nevermind then."

"Where were you?" Maria asked sternly.

"I was engaging the escort's ace," Grint answered with a bitter tone, she immediately knows who Grint is referring to, that Grey Flanker. "He got away."

"It doesn't matter he got away or not." Maria said, cutting him off. "The only thing matters now is that you're still alive."

Grint may have known the Major for a few hours now; he already deduced that she's though, well respected and had a high authority on missions despite being younger than him. Those are the typical characteristics of the average leader but Grint could sense something from her voice when she said that last sentence,

And that something is concern.

"Don't push yourself too hard Grint. I don't want to lose another wingman again."

Grint was silent for a moment after hearing that, he don't know who was Maria's previous wingman but he'll make sure he won't let that happen. Soon he finally found his voice again,

"Roger that Major."

Maria smiled behind her oxygen mask, though this answer wasn't enough for her but it'll do for now. After a brief squabble about Grint's performance on his first mission, the group splits and heads back to their own bases.

* * *

The gray Su-35S/BM managed to escape from the airspace, the pilot glances back to make sure he isn't followed by anyone. The pilot let's out a sigh in satisfaction, he took a glimpse of his damaged tailfin, he couldn't help but chuckle at this sight before throttling up and setting the afterburner. He soon disappears into the horizon.

* * *

**Orion Air Force Base, Northern Anima  
02/13/2065 1654hrs**

It has been an hour since the Drakonian air raid was stopped and Grint is currently in his quarters. He ditched the top of the flight suit and now wears a white tank top and gray cargo pants. He stared at the ceiling with a frown on his face and his hands were trembling slightly. His mind raced through the events he'd gone through earlier that day but most of them leads to one, that Grey Flanker.

The Flanker's flight pattern reminds him of his own flying, the identical color scheme and that weapon. All of this proved too much for his tired mind to digest, Grint gave a loud sigh as he quickly shot up from his bed and walked to the mess hall. Once there, he ordered a cup of coffee to get his mind off that Flanker. The sooner that Flanker was out from his mind the better.

With his coffee now in front of him, he grabbed the cup and sat down; giving out a sigh as he runs his hands through his black hair. Seconds later, the cup was already half empty. The coffee did the job, his mind now shifted to his performance earlier today.

Buteo 1, whatever his real name is praised his performance but he still reserving the rest, the others; Aries 1 and Ashley or Gemini 1 from Lancers AB was quite impressed, commenting they have never actually saw an aggressor pilot fighting in the front lines.

But he's still bothered by Maria's statement about him taking things too far,

_"Bah, nonsense."_ He thought with a frown. _"A pilot needs to push his skills to the very limit, this war is already last long enough to be written in two damn history books. There is no such thing as taking things too far."_

Then again, he couldn't really blame her for being worried about him. After all, she is his flight lead.

Speaking of which, Maria has arrived in the mess hall. She too ditched her olive green flight suit but still kept the pants on. She asked for a cup of warm tea to counter the cold and rainy afternoon, Grint just watched her come to his table with a bored look on his face and sat beside him.

"Good afternoon Captain." She began, "Can't sleep I see."

"Yes." Grint replied bluntly.

"Y'know? After seeing your performance today there's no doubt that you'll do fine as my wingman." she spoke after sipping her tea,

"Thank you Major." He replied, not taking his eyes off from the coffee cup.

"There's no need for a thank you Captain. Your skills are admirable and you nearly beat my kill score." She chuckled before her expression turned serious,

"But I had some questions. It's about the way you fly." Grint just let a small, unnoticeable sigh as she continued. "Why did you kill that pilot when he's already bailed out?"

Grint was silent, he searched his brain for an answer but to no avail, he took a sip from his coffee and decides to give in,

"I don't know." Grint took another sip from his coffee, "It's like when I'm up there in the air, I like to shoot everything in my sights. My policy is to never show mercy towards the enemy but…."

Maria raised an eyebrow,

"But there's a part of me who still wanted them to live." Maria noticed the cup he's holding began to shake slightly, "But a predator never let it's prey get away…"

"That's enough Grint." Maria cuts in, "You're maybe a predator in that skies but please, just try to not shoot down those pilots. If you keep doing that then you can get into a lot of trouble."

Grint turned to Maria and saw her glare, it sounds like she just gave him a stern order but at the same time there's a pleading tone disguised inside that stern voice. He finished his cup before replying to his leader.

"I'll think about it." He stood up and exited the mess hall, "I'll see you later Major."

Maria felt uneasy about Grint's reply, he said that a predator never let it's prey get away.

_"A predator."_ The words echoed through her mind, reminding her of that faithful day where her beloved was taken by a bloodthirsty predator. Maria looked outside, dark clouds are looming on the horizon, she had a feeling that the weather will not be pretty on the next few days.

* * *

_**A/N: ...**_


End file.
